Cargo vessel



N. BACHKO 3,380,422

CARGO VESSEL 6 Sheevs--Shee l April 30, 196s Filed Jan. 15, 1966 N.BACHKO CARGO VESSEL April so, was

6 Sheets-Sheet Filed Jan. l5, 1966 N. BACI-IKO 3,380,422

CARGO VESSEL 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 April 3o, 1968 Filed Jan. l5, 1966 N.BACHKO CARGO VESSEL April 3o, 196s 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. l5, 1966Il. L

wk NS N. BACHKO April 3o, 1968 CARGO VESSEL 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan.lL 1966 N. BACHKO CARGO VESSEL.

April 30, 1968 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Jan. l5, 1966 United StatesPatent() 3,380,422 CARGO VESSEL Nicholas Bachko, Port Washington, N.Y.,assignor, by mesne assignments, to United States Lines, Inc., New York,N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 13, 1966, Ser. No. 520,482 36Claims. (Cl. 11472) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Movable and removablecontainer guides; container guide elements attached to undersides ofbetween-deck hatch covers to provide continuous hatchway guides whencovers are swung vertically and latched; roller-mounted container guideelements movable to and from operational positions adjacent hatchway;upwardly swingable container guide elements; laterally telescopingcontainer guide elements; latch-receiving apertures in such containerguide elements for latching pallets, vans, etc. at elevational locationswithin hatchway; movable and removable roll-on, roll-off vehicle cargoramps.

This invention relates to cargo carrying vessels, and more particularlyto oceangoing vessels of the type which may be generally characterizedas container ships.

The idea of loading a ship with large van-type cargo carryingcontainers, such as truck trailer Abodies or the like, is not new.Either by on-board or dock loading cranes, such containers are loweredinto the hold of the vessel through its cargo hatches and are stackedand secured one atop another. It is conventional to guide the containersin their downward movement and to retain them against subsequent lateralshifting by vertical guides for the purpose. The guides are attachedwithin the hatchways of the ship at locations corresponding to the fourcorners of the standard sized containers to be received, and extendcontinuously downward to the inner bottom or tank top deck of the ship,the decking at any intermediate deck being eliminated within thehatchway areas. By reason of this conventional arrangement andattachment of the guides, the ability of the ship to additionallyreceive and store other cargo, which has not been initially loadedwithin such container, is curtailed.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a novel arrangement andconstruction of the container guides in such ships to affordconvertibility of the ship for handling general cargo, or greaterflexibility with regard to the mixed types of cargo, including cargo invan-type containers or the like, which the ship can conveniently load,unload, and carry. That is, the total cargo stored in any given betweendecks area of the ship may be contained in a fewer or greater number ofone or more sizes of the van-type containers, or may be palletized oneither of two types of master pallets as will be described, or may begeneral mixed cargo such as vehicle, break bulk, or dry cargo eitherloaded or not in ordinary crates or the like, yet the ship is adapted toefliciently accommodate all of the same in virtually any combinationthereof. Although all of the cargo may be handled by the conventionallift-on, lift-oil method, the invention further contemplates thatvehicular cargo, or cargo contained in or hauled by motor vehicle, mayalso be handled by roll-on, roll-oft methods.

Generally describing the inventi-on, a ship having a conventional numberof intermediate decks (referred to generally as between decks) betweenits weather deck and its tank top,` is provided with vertically alignedcargo hatches in each of its decks so that cargo may be lowered fromabove the weather deck to the lowest possible deck for stowage. Thehatches are of particular size or multiples thereof for accommodatingone or more side-by-side stacks of containers of common standard sizeextending in one or the other direction of the hatch. Of course, thesevertically aligned hatches, which form hatchways, may be square, but ifrectangular their long sides may extend in either the athwartship(transverse) direction, or in the fore and a-ft (longitudinal) directionof the ship. Each of the ships cargo holds, as defined by the shipswatertight transverse bulkheads, has at least one such hatchway,depending upon whether more or less wing space is desired at eachintermediate deck. However, in the preferred arrangement, therectangular hatchways in each cargo hold are oriented in fore-and-aftdirection and, considering the Waterplane area between its definingwatertight bulkhead stations, as many as possible are disposed inside-by-side relation in the athwartship direction at least within themain cargo holds, a fewer number and therefore more wing space beingprovided in the other holds.

Each of the large, between deck hatches within the hatchway is closed byfour, quadrantly situated hatch covers in the preferred embodiment. Thehatch covers lie flush with the top of their respectively associateddecks when closed, and are hingedly mounted to swing upwardly inathwartship direction to their vertically standing, open positionalthough, if desired, the hatch covers could be mounted to swingupwardly in the fore-and-aft direction as will subsequently be morefully understood. The transversely measured width of each of thequadrantsized covers of a given hatch approximates the height of thebetween deck spacing thereabove and, when the cover is in its openposition, either the upper edges of the covers or upwardly projectingportions on the respective covers engage and are locked against theoverhead longitudinal girder construction adjacent the overlying hatchso that the upstanding open covers define fairly rigid longitudinalsidewalls of that portion of the hatchway which is above the deck towhich the covers are hingedly attached.

Sectional lengths of the necessary container guides are attached to theunderside of each of the covers for any given between deck hatch, thesectional lengths extending transversely with respect to the covers andbeing appropriately located such that they are in alignment with therespective container guide sections located thereabove when the cover isopened, thus to form interrupted, although substantially continuous,vertical container guides extending downwardly from the upper deck tothe level of the deck on which the lowermost hatch covers are hingedlyconnected. If necessary, filler length guide sections are attached tothe hatch coaming at each deck, and the respective upper and lower endsof all of the guide sections are appropriately flared and curved toassure smooth tracking of the containers within the guides as thecontainers are being loaded and unloaded.

To complete the continuity of these container guides across the betweendeck spacing to the deck below that on which the lowermost opened hatchcovers are hinged, either or a combination of three principalalternative additional bottom guide section arrangements are available.

Where the lowermost between deck spacing is the area immediately abovethe tank top or other closed deck of the ship, the first of thesealternatives provides hinged panels, which approximate the hatch coversand are similarly arranged but which are hingedly attached to the closeddeck itself, to be swung upwardly when needed so that the containerguide sections on their undersides will complete the full lengths of theguides within the hatchway. When in their closed. position, they lieiiush with the deck whose plating is appropriately recessed for thepurpose. In a modified form of the tirst alternative, the hinged panelswhen closed lie atop the conventional tia-t plating of the vtank top, inwhich instance raised grating is provided on adjacent areas of the tanktop to the elevation corresponding to the thickness of the panels,including the container guide sections -at their undersides, so as toprovide a level deck for moving cargo laterally, even though somevertical spacing is lost in the area. However, the other twoalternatives to be described could be employed to provide the bottomguide sections within the tank top cargo area, or within any other cargoarea, with out loss of vertical height, as will be seen.

The second of these alternatives provides respective and suitably bracedbottom guide sections which are appropriately located and hingedly-attached to the overhead, hatchWay-adjacent longitudinal girderconstruction of the between deck spacing which is below the lowermost of.the opened hatch covers. The length of these bottom guide sectionscorresponds to the height of the between deck spacing which they serveand, thus, they may be swung upwardly in either athwartship orfore-and-aft direction and secured against the overhead of the betweendeck spacing when not needed, and may be swung downwardly and theirlower ends secured to the deck or tank top therebelow when needed tocomplete the lengths of the respective container guides so that thelatter -then extend fully to the lowermost closed deck within thehatchway area.

The third alternative provides roller mounted bottom guide sectionswhich may thus also be removed from their operational position when notneeded. These sections, of course, have length corresponding to theheight of the between deck spacing in which they are situated.

It will be appreciated that the three alternative forms of lowercontainer guide sections might be selectively employed within theseveral between deck spacings of the ship depending upon spaceavailability for mounting the same and other factors.

To accommodate containers of different length corresponding to thedimension of each hatchway in the opposite direction, which in thepreferred embodiment is the longitudinal direction, laterallyretractable guides are mounted on preferably fixed, respective verticalsupports which are appropriately positioned to receive the four cornersof the containers. Of course, removable hinged or roller type guidesmight be substituted to permit the fore-and-aft wing spaces to be freeand clear when desirable. However, the preferred longitudinal containerguides are permanently placed and are formed by aligned, between decksections which extend downward through the hatchway from the hatchcoa-ming at the weather deck to the tank top or other lowermost deck ofthe ship. The preferred telescopically retractable arrangement of thesepermanent container guides permits their retraction out of the hatchway,toward the outboard ends of -the latter, when not in use so as to permitopening and closing of the aforementioned swingably mounted hatch coverswhich must pass the guides.

Alternatively, the guides at the forward and after ends of the hatchwaymay be of the conventional, non-removable and non-retractable type, inwhich case a suitable cutout of each of the swingable hatch covers mustbe provided so that they may clear Ithe guides when opening landclosing. A hingedly mounted flap is provided on each hatch cover toclose this cutout area when the hatch cover is in closed position flushwith the deck on which it is hinged.

Considering that quadrantly disposed hatch covers are employed to closethe total area of the hatch at each intermediate deck, and that thehatchway is intended to accommodate containers having length equal Itothe full length of the hatchway (i.e., the combined lengths of the `twohatch covers at either side of the hatch) as well as containers havinglength equal to the width of the hatchway, a removable king beam extendstransversely across the hatch at its centerline to provide verticalsupport for the otherwise cantilevered corners of the hatch covers whenclosed.

At the upper or weather deck, the hatch is covered in a conventionalwatertight manner, excepting that in the preferred embodiment the hatchcover when closed is ush with the deck so as to facilitate the stowageof open deck cargo, which may include van-type containers, thereabove.In a modified arrangement, the hatch coaming at the upper deck projectsupwardly, and container guide lead-in apparatus is hingedly or removablymounted thereon for reasons as will be explained.

In -addition to van-type containers, the container guides themselves, oradditionally provided pallet guides, accommodate standard sized masterpallets which are previously loaded with cargo and are then loaded andunloaded from the ship in manner similar to the v-an-type containers. Aswill be seen, these master pallets may also be used as elevators withinthe hatchways. The invention contemplates that either of two types ofmaster pallets will be accommodated, either of which may be shipsequipment, and one of which requires further modification of the guiderails which will accommodate the pallet. As will subsequently be morefully understood, the referred to modification of the guide rails isthat of providing fairly closely spaced latch-receiving apertures alongthe vertical length of each for receiving laterally projectable andretractable latches of the one from of pallet so as to fully support andsecure the pallet at any selected elevation within a hatchway. Thus,this form of pallet does not require that its load be supported by anycargo therebelow, as is the case using the alternative form of pallet.

The preferred embodiment of the invention further incorporates pairs ofhingedly mounted ramps in, and forming a part of each deck which liesabove the tank top to and including the weather or upper deck, the rampsin each pair being swingable in down direction to the adjacent deckbelow to provide passageways between decks for roll-on, roll-off cargo.Such vehicular traiiic boards the ship at the level of the second deck(one deck below the upper deck) through portal doors either at the sidesof the ship or at the port and/ or starboard stern quarter thereof. Tosimultaneously accommodate rolling traic at both stern quarters, tworail mounted extensible ramps are provided at the stern. The railmounting provides mobility of each ramp to serve two or more entranceportals located at the stern of the ship within the region of the hullcurvature which would otherwise be diticult of access from a dock. Thus,in addition to facilitating the stowage of vehicular cargo, or vehiclehauled cargo, on any deck of the ship, the arrangement providesadditional stern-to-dock portals and therefore a greater total number ofroll-on, roll-off cargo portals to shorten the time of loading of thistype of cargo.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the invention provides acargo vessel having movable and removable guide elements which adapt theship to receive and discharge containers and pallets, and movable andremovable ramp elements which adapt the ship to receive and dischargevehicular tra'ic, yet the ships capability for receiving and dischargingconventional mixed or bulk cargo, either alone or together with eithercontainers, pallets or vehicle cargo, remains unimpaired.

These and other objects, features and advantages will be more fullyapparent from the following detailed description of the invention in itspreferred embodiment including several modifications, when takentogether with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a sectional profile of a ship in accordance with theinvention, the view being taken at the longitudinal centerline of theship;

FIGURES 2 through 5, inclusive, are waterplane area showings of the shipof FIGURE 1 at the deck levels thereof, as indicated by lines 2 2, 3 3,4 4, and 5 5, respectively, in FIGURE 1;

FIGURES 6 through 11, inclusive, are transverse sectional showings ofthe ship as seen from lines 6 6, 7 7, 8 8, 9 9, 10 10, and 11 11,respectively, in FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 12 is an enlarged plan view of a typical hatchway of the ship,the hatchway being shown in opened condition;

FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary side sectional elevation, to a greatlyenlarged scale, of one form of guide rail apparatus within the hatchwayof FIGURE l2, the section being taken as indicated at lines 13-13 ofFIGURE 12; and FIGURE 14 is a fragmentary sectional view of the guiderail apparatus as seen from lines 14-14 of FIG- URE 13;

FIGURE 15 is a fragmtntary plan view, to an enlarged scale, of onecorner of a modified form of hatchway arrangement;

FIGURE 16 is a midship section of the ship of FIG- URE 1, as seen fromlines 16-16 of the latter iigure, and being to an enlarged scale to showcertain operational features of the ship; and FIGURE 17 is a fragmentaryview similar to FIGURE 16 to show additional methods of utilizing theships hatchways;

FIGURE 18 is a perspective showing, approximately to the scale ofFIGURES 16 and 17, of one form of pallet and spreader arrangement whichmay be lowered into the hatchways of the ship;

FIGURE 19 is a similar view of a modied form of pallet and spreaderarrangement; and FIGURE 20 is a greatly enlarged sectional showing of afeature thereof, the section being taken -as indicated by lines 20-20 inFIGURE 19;

FIGURE 2l is a fragmentary showing of a midship section of a modifiedform of ship in accordance with the invention;

FIGURES 22 and 23 are fragmentary and enlarged front and side views,respectively, of the guide construction in a typical hatch cover as ismounted within the hatchways of the ship of either FIGURES 1 or 21;

FIGURE 24 is a greatly enlarged side sectional elevation of a feature ofthe ship of FIGURE 21, as seen from lines 24-24 in the latter ligure;

FIGURE 25 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken as indicatedby lines 25-25 in FIGURE 3, of the ship of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 26 is an enlarged side view showing of a form of bottom guidesection as may be incorporated in the ship of either FIGURE 1 or FIGURE21; FIGURE 27 is a rear view of the construction as seen from lines27-27 of FIGURE 2.6; and FIGURE 28 is a section-al view thereof as seenfrom lines 28-28 of either of FIG- URES 26 and 27; and

FIGURE 29 is an enlarged fragmented end edge showing of the manner ofsecuring a typical hatch cover in its opened position.

Referring to FIGURE 1, in general arrangement the ship 30 includes amain deck 31 which is the weather deck; intermedi-ate or between decks32 and 33, deck 32 being the second deck and deck 33 being the third ofthe ship; a tank top deck 34 adjacent but spaced upwardly from thebottom line 35 to provide an inner bottom 36 for fuel or water ballast;a forecastle deck 37; and a poop deck 38. A plurality of transverselyextending watertight bulkheads 39 to 46, inclusive, divide the ship 30into compartments in conventional manner, including six cargo holds asindicated on the drawing. Hold No. 1, which lies between bulkheads 39and 40, extends from the forecastle deck 37 to the deck 32 which liesabove the deep tanks 47 and 48, whereas all of the other cargo holdsNos. 2 through 6, inclusive, extend from the deck 31 to the tank topdeck 34. Forward of bulkhead 39 the ship includes the usual chain locker49, storage lockers 50, 51, and a fore peak tank 52. Aft of bulkhead 45,the shi-ps engine room 53 and after peak tank 54 are situated below thesecond deck 32, although the machinery casing 55 (see FIGURE 3) extendsupwardly of the deck 32 at its middle portion and thereby denes roll-oncargo passageways 56 and 57 on deck 32 outboard of the engine I"casingbetween bulkheads 45 and 46, these passageways 56, 57

to be utilized as will subsequently be described. It will also be notedthat the stern portion 32a of the deck 32 provides a roll-on cargo traicarea for receiving such cargo through the stern loading portals 58, 59and the side loading portals 60, 61, as will also be described. The shipalso includes other side loading portals 62 to 65, inclusive (seeFIGURES l and 3), for loading cargo at the second deck 32. Further, theship 30 has deck house superstructure 66 located above main deck 31 andaft of the watertight bulkhead station 45. In addition, and as indicatedin FIGURE 1, the ship has an appropriate number of masts 67 and booms 68for self-loading and unloading of cargo from the respective of the cargoholds, although it will be understood that the ship might include anyconventional alternative for such hoisting larrangement, such as eitherfixed or travelling gantry bridge cranes or the like.

Each cargo hold has one or more hatchways, generally `designated bynumeral 69, which extend downwardly from the topmost deck above the holdto the lowest deck within the hold and which are each deiined by thecumulative vertically projected areas of an aligned series of individualhatches 7 0 at each deck above and within the hold. Each hatch 70, andtherefore the open area of each hatchway 69, is identical in size to anyother, and therefore FIG- URE 12 is a typical plan of any openedhatchway 69. Because each hatchway is intended to accommodate both`short length containers 71 (nominal dimensions 2O feet -long x 8 feetwide) and long length containers 72 (nominal dimensions 40 feet long x 8feet wide) and master pallets as will be described, the rectangularshaped open area dimensions of each hatch are slightly greater than 40feet long x 20 feet wide appropriately to accommodate any of theseseveral types and sizes of cargo platforms in the arrangements shown inFIGURE 12. Further, in the preferred embodiment, each hatchway in eachhold is oriented with its long side in the fore-and-aft (longitudinal)direction of the ship as shown in FIGURES 2-4, although it will beunderstood that, where necessary or desirable, the size or directionaldisposition of any or all of the hatchways might be otherwise. Thus, asseen in the main deck plan, FIGURE 2, and considering that the ship 30includes longitudinal girder construction extending along respectivepr-ole planes at either side of its centerline within holds Nos. 3 to 5as generally indicated by reference numeral 73 in FIGURES 7-9, 16 and17, and longitudinal centerline girder construction within hold No. 2 asgenerally indicated by numeral 74 in FIGURE 10, each of holds Nos. 1 and6 have one such hatchway 69; hold No. 2 has two hatchways respectivelylocated at either side of centerline girder construction 74; and each ofthe remaining holds Nos. 3 through 5 have three hatchways, one betweenand the others at the respective sides of longitudinal girderconstruction 73.

Referring to FIGURE l2, it will be understood that, in order to guidethe short length containers 71 into and out from the hatchway 69 and toaccommodate the same in transverse direction of the hatchway, thehatchway 69 has vertically extending, transverse container guides 75.Similarly, to guide the longer length containers 72 into and out fromthe hatchway, the latter also has vertically extending longitudinalcontainer guides 76. It is apparent from FIGURE 12 that the number andspacing of the transverse guides 75 is such as to accommodate fourcolumns of the stacked containers 71 within the hatchway (two at eitherside of center), and the number and spacing of the container guides 7-6is such as to accommodate two columns of the stacked containers 72within the hatchway (one at either side of center). In this connection,and by comparison of the deck plans of FIGURES 2 through 5 and thetransverse sectional showings of FIGURES 6 through 1l, it will be notedthat the narrowing waterplane areas between t-he third deck 33 and thetank top deck 34 within holds Nos. 2, 3 and 5 cause elimination of thelowermost containers from certain of the outboard stacks thereofalthough, as will subsequently become apparent, the present inventionpermits and facilitates virtually full utilization of such space for thestowage of general mixed cargo.

From a comparison of FIGURES 3 and 4 with FIG- URES 16 and 17 it will beunderstood that the transverse guides 75 are attached to the undersidesof the swingable Ihatch covers 77 which close the respective hatches 70at each othe decks 32 and 33 within cargo holds Nos. 2 through 6. Withinhold No. 1, the transverse guide are similarly attached to the swingablehatch covers 77 at main deck 31, as will be apparent from FIGURES 1 yand2. Further, each hatch cover 77 is of the pontoon type to impart deckstrength when closed for supporting heavy cargo thereon. Thus, itbecomes apparent that the container guides 75 are effectively removedfrom the respective between decks areas above either of the decks 32 or33 when the hatch covers 77 on the deck are closed, so that the betweendecks area can be better utilized for lateral loading and unloading ofthe wing areas and stowage of general mixed cargo at the relevantbetween deck level. For ex-ample, and referring to the generalarrangement of the swingable hatch covers 77 as shown in FIG- URE 16,where the hatch covers 77 at the decks 32 and 33 within either outboardhatchway 69 are closed and the middle hatchway 69 is opened above thelevel of deck 32, general mixed cargo stowed on the closed hatch covers77 within the between decks area above deck 33 may be moved laterallytowards, and unloaded through the middle hatchway 69 without disturbingany cargo at the outboard deck level thereabove. Reflection willindicate a variety of similar opened and closed combinations of thehatch covers 77 at the several hatchways and at the several deck levelswhich will likewise afford selective loading and unloading of particularcargo areas Without disturbance of cargo within other areas for reducingloading and unloading time at dockside, and for increasing the number ofavailable cargo areas at any given time during a voyage involving anumber of ports of call. Furthermore, and because of the availability ofthe guides 75, the ship remains essentially a container ship whose cargoholds may be partly or completely filled with container-loaded cargo,

On lruns `where more general mixed cargo and less containerized cargo isanticipated, a modied form of ship 80, whose midship section isindicated in FIGURE 21, might be utilized to provide more wing space ofa permanent type at each between decks level 81 and 82. That is, onlytwo hatchways 69 as described herein are situated in transverselyadjacent relation at either side of centerline within each cargo hold,the decks being of a permanent type at the respective outboard sides ofthe two hatch- Ways, and being continued across the hatchways by thehingedly mounted hatch covers 77, having the container guides 75attached at their undersides, when the same are closed. Thus, as in thepreferred embodiment, when the hatch covers 77 are in their opened,vertical position, the hatchways 69 have guides therein for receivingcontainers. Of course, the arrangement shown in FIGURE 21 might besubstituted for the hatchway arrangement in any appropriate hold of theship 30 of the preferred embodiment, if desired.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4, the preferred arrangement providesfour, quadrantly situated hatch covers 77 for closing the hatch 70Within each hatchway 69 at each of the between decks 32 and 33, eachhatch cover being hingedly mounted at its outboard side for upwardswinging movement in the athwartship direction from its horizontal, orclosed, position. Simlarly, wthin hold No. 1, the hatch 70 at main deck31 is closed by -four hatch covers 77. The hinge means at each hatchcover is generally indicated by numeral 7 8. A removable king beam 79extends transversely at the centerline of each hatchway for supportingthe respective, otherwise cantilevered, inboard corners and ends of thefour hatch covers 77 when closed,

and for removal only when the longer containers 72 are to beaccommodated within the hatchway 69, as indicated in FIGURE 12. It willalso be understood from FIGURE 16, for example, that the outboard orhinged edge side of each cover 77 abuts against the coaming of its hatch70 and the longitudinal guide construction 73, and is therebyadditionally supported when in closed position.

The width of each hatch cover 77 is substantially equal to the height ofthe bet-Ween deck area thereabove so that, when the cover is opened, itstransverse container guides substantially span t'he height of the deckarea. Thus, the vertically aligned guide sections on the opened hatchcovers form substantially continuous container guides to the uppermostdeck above, except for interruption at the hatch coaming of the deckabove each aligned cover. Where necessary or desirable, suchinterruption may be substantially eliminated by attachment of fillerguide sections 87 to the coaming at any deck in alignment with the guidesections on the opened hatch covers as illustrated in FIGURES 16 and 2l,the latter ligure showing the filler guide 87 attached to an upwardlyprojecting type of hatch coaming 84 at the main or weather deck 83 andas appears at the forecastle deck 37 of the preferred embodiment. Thesetiller guides simulate the guide sections 75 in construction.

The hatch covers 77 are raised and lowered by any conventional means(not illustrated) and, when raised, are secured in their upstandingpositions by respective spring biased latches (FIGURE 29) each of whichis pivotally mounted at the overhead and appropriately located adjacentthe hatchway 69 Within each between decks area for engaging a catchopening 121 of one of the hatch covers 77. Where the width of the cover77 is less than the height of the between decks area, a latch extension77b (see `FIGURES 2-5) of the hatch cover may be provided at its freeedge, in co-mating fashion with the adjacent hatch cover as shown, forthe catch 121 to thereby avoid undesirable projection of t-he latch 120below the overhead construction 73 to which it is att-ached. The latch120 is normally spring biased to its horizontal, latching position asshown in FIGURE 29 and, to 4release the cover 77, is pivoted downwardlyagainst its 'bias so that its hooked forward end 120a disengages thecatch opening 121.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, it will be understood that each hatch 70at the main deck 31 is covered by hatch covers 85, which may be ofconventional type, but which preferably lie ush with these decks whenclosed, as shown, to facilitate the storage of containers 7.1, 72 orother cargo thereon. The hatch 70 at the forecastle deck 37 may haveupwardly projecting coaming 84 of the type more clearly illustrated atthe main deck 83 of ship 80 in FIGURE 21, in which case the hatch isclosed by any conventional cover.

FIGURES 22 and 23 show enlarged detailed front and side views of atypical hatch cover guide section 75. The guide is formed of 6 x 6 heavyangle iron attached, as by welding, to the underside of the hatch cover77 and facing in the appropriate direction and positioned as ndicated inFIGURE 12 for receiving and guiding one of the vertical corner edges ofa container 71. The projecting edge 75a of each guide 75 is aredoutwardly, as at 75b, at both its top and bottom ends to provide anappropriate lead-in `to facilitate slidable movement of the container 71into the same as shown in FIGURE 22. For similar reason, and as shown inFIGURE 23, the guide face 75e has upper and lower ends which are curved,as at 75d towards the plane of the hatch cover 77. The upper and lowerared ends 75b of the projecting edge 75a of the guide may be curvedtowards the hatch cover 77, as indicated in FIGURE 23. Any of the fillerguides 87, of course, has similarly flared and curved upper and lowerends for the same purpose.

It will be noted that the guide face 75al is spaced away from theunderside 77a of the hatch cover by spacers 88,

and that the guide face 75C also includes vertically spaced lapartapertures 89 along its length. The apertures 89 provide ledges forreceiving the outwardly projecting latch ele'mentis 90 (see FIGURES 19and 20) for supporting one type of pallet 91 a-t virtually any elevationwithin the hatchway 69. Referring to FIGURE 19, this'tyrpe of pallet 91is flat and square with nominal dimensions 20 feet x 20 feet such thatits corners will be received and guided by the four outermost containerguides 75 within the halfop'ening orf any hatchway 69, as indicated inFIGURE 12. In this connection, it will be noted that the two side edgesof the pallet 91 which will extend longitudinally of the ship ,withinthe hatchway are appropriately notched as at 92 (-FIGURE 19), to clearthe two pairs of innermost guides 75 within the half-opening of thehatchway. FIG- URE 19 shows the pallet 91 attached to a spreader frame93, as is a. conventional means for hoisting and lowering palletizedcargo. However, it will be noted that the spreader frame 93 hasdownwardly projecting legs 93a of any appropriate length to provideclearance for the cargo situated on the pallet 911, the lower end-s ofwhich have a conventional hydraulically actuated twist-type pallet lo'ck(not shown) for engaging and locking into an appropriate recess 94(KFIGURE 20) at the respective corners of the pallet 91. The appropriateside edges of the spreader frame 93 are notched as at 93b to pass thereferred to innermost guides of the hatchway in the same manner as thepallet notches 92.

The `referred to latches 90l at the outboard facing sides of ea'ch ofthe four corners of the pallet 91 are shown in detail in FIGURE 20. Thelatch 90 is pivotally mounted, as at 95, and -is spring biased bytorsion spring means (not shown) towards it-s outwardly projectingposition whereat it engages one of the latch receiving apertures 89 ofthe associated container guide 75, as indicated by the full line showingin `FIGURE 20. In this projecting condition the latch 90 projectshorizontally and is prevented from further upward movement by a stop 96formed by the top of the pallet aperture 97 through which the latchprojects. It becomes apparent that, upon lifting the pallet 91 when itslatches 90 are in their projecting positions, the latches 90i will pivotdownwardly against their spring lbias upon contact with the upper edge89a of the guide aperture 89. A hinge 98 is pivotally mounted on thepallet lby a shaft 99 at one of its ends, the hinge 918 being springlbiased, by torsional spring means (not shown) at the shaft I99, in thedirection of upward swinging movement as indicated .by the arrow inFIGURE 20. 'Phe opposite end of the hinge 98 has a latch 100 forengaging an appropriate recess 410I1 at the rearward end of the latch 90to normally retain the latter in its retracted position, against thespring bias of the latch 90g as indicated by dotted lines in FIG- URE20. A hydraulic ram actuator 102, whose details are not illustrated ispivotally mounted on the pallet 91, as at 1013, and, when actuated,urges the hinge 98- against its spring bias to release the latch 90 soas to permit the latter to swing outwardly to its projected positionengaging a guide aperture 89. The hydraulic ram actuator 102 isretracted to cause automatic locking of the latch 90y in its retractedposition when the pallet is lifted from the hatchway, .as aforesaid. Ofcourse, any other conventional mechanism for causing projection andretraction of the latch 90 as described might be used.

The hatchway 69 at the left side of FIG-URE 16 shows pallets 91 solatched to the container guides 75 at various eleva't-ions within thehatchway, an-d it will be app-arent that these pallets 91 permit maximumutilization of the cargo space within the hatchway. Further, referringto the hatchway 69 at the right side of FIGURE 7, it is seen that, withits latches 90 retained in their iretracted positions, the pallet 91inconjunction with the spreader frame 93 may be utilized as an elevatorwithin any hatchway 69 since upward and downward movement of the palletis accurately guide by guides 75.

It should further be noted that pallets of the typ'e of pallet 91, butof different size, may also be supported Within the hatchways 69 so longas the undersidesof the hatch covers 77 have appropriately positionedpallet guides, hav-ing latch receiving apertures 89, attached thereto.Where additional pallet guides for the purpose (not illustrated) areused, they may be positioned intermediate the guides 75 as illustratedin FIGURE l2. In addition, it should be noted that the pallet guides andpallet locks need not be at the extreme corners of such pallets 93 sincethe notched edges 92 of the pallet, as they slid-ably engage the guides75, will adequately guide the pallet in upward and downward movement. Ofcourse, the pallet 911 is of the pontoon type having adequate strengthto support the load to be placed thereon.

A second type of pallet which may be utilized in loading, unloading andstoring cargo within the hatchways 69 is illustrated in FIGURE 18. Thispontoon type pallet 105 does not include a latching means for supportingthe pallet on the container guides 75 and therefore always slides freelybetween the appropriate container guides 715. The preferred `form of thepallet h-as nominal dimensions 20 feet x 20 feet, and has side notches106, so that its positioning between the transverse container guides 7-5and manner of entry into the half-opening of any hatchway 69 are thesame as described with respect to the pallet 4911. However, the pallet105 is provided with detachable stanchions 107 at its four corners forengaging the underside and supporting any similar pallet 105 placedthereabove within the hold. The stanchions 107 lock to the upper surfaceof the pallet 1015 in any conventional manner (not illustrated), andhave -appropriate means (not shown) .at their upper, free ends forlocking into the underside of the pallet next above so that a cargocolumn formed by a stack of pallets 105 will appear as illustrated inthe hatchway 69 at the left side of FIGURE 17. When detached, the fourstanchions 107 are stowed within .the hollow pontoon construction of thepallet 105 itself, as illustrated in FIGURE 18, and it becomes appa-rentthat a number of sets of stanchions, four in each set and each set ofdiiferent length, may be stored within the pallet 1015 and selectivelyutilized to increase the utility of the pallet in loading cargo ofvarying heights. A spreader frame 109 is employed when lifting andlowering t-he pallet 105, land it will be noted that the appropriateside edges of the fframe |109 are notched, as at y1110, to pass theintermediate container guides 75 within any hatchway 69, as in thepreviously described embodiment.

Of course, the spreader frames 93 and/or 105 may be a part of shipsequipment and can be stored atop the topmost pallet as the latter arestowed in any hatchway 69.

Where the hatch coaming at the upper deck is of the upwardly projectingtype as illustrated by the coaming 84 in FIGURE 21, it is found that acontainer or pallet lead-in device 111, as illustrated in detail inFIGURE 24, is desirably employed to guide the sometimes swingingcontainer or pallets into the guides 75 and 76 of the hatchway. Thedevices 111 are also desirably employed where the cornermost adjacentguides 75, 76 of the hatchway are very closely spaced, and mightotherwise interfere with the lowering of containers into the other. Ifdesirable, the device 111 might also be used where iiushtype coamingappears at the upper deck. Referring to FIG- URES 2l and 24, the coaminglead-in device 111 is preferably hingedly connected at its rearward endextension 111a to the outboard edge 84a of the coaming 84 so that, usingits handle 111e, it is manually swingable to its dotted line position asshown in FIGURE 24 when not in use to permit placement of the weatherdeck hatch covering over the hatch. The preferred embodiment includesany suitable type of releasable hinge latch 112 at the hinge point 113to lock the device 111 in its operational position as shown by fulllines in FiGURE 24. Guides 114, welded to the coaming 84, assure properpositioning of the device 111. Alternatively, the device may beremovable altogether, or made slidable along the coaming 84 toalternately service more than one container guide 75 or 76 and therebyreduce the total number of devices 111 which are required at eachhatchway.

As seen in FIGUREZl, the sidewalls 111b, 111e of the device 111 arelaterally flared and, as shown by FIG- URE 24, the face 111d of thedevice is slanted, to facilitate the sliding of the lowermost corners ofthe containers or pallets thereon. Each device 111 is positioned in linewith its associated container guide 75 or 76 (or coaming filler guide87, if included), and it will be understood that an appropriate numberof such devices 111 will be necessary to guide the containers or palletsinto the hatchway.

Referring now to the preferred form of longitudinal container guides 76as illustrated in FIGURES 12, 13 and 14, a suitable plurality ofhydraulically actuated rams 115 mount the vertically extending andinverted U-shaped guide rail 116 for projecting and retracting movementwithin a vertically extending casing 117 which is attached, as bywelding, between the coamings of the hatches 70 at each deck within thehatchway 69. The rams 115 are attached to the rear plate 117a of thecasing, and are actuated by conventional means, not shown. Of course,the rams 115 might be electrically or mechanically actuated, if desired,and retraction of the guide rail 116 is necessary to permit opening andclosing of the swingably mounted hatch covers 77 as previouslydescribed. In this connection, it will be noted that the fixed positionof the casing 117 under the hatch coaming is such as will not block themovement of the covers 77. Projection of the guide rails 116, inconjunction with the fixed lateral extension 117b of the casing 117 (ateither side thereof, depending upon the location of the guide 76, aswill be apparent by reference to FIGURE 12), forms the angle-shapedcontainer guide 76.

Alternatively, the guides 76 may be of a xed, nonretractable typeextending continuously from the topmost hatch to the lowermost deckwithin the hatchway, as indicated in FIGURE 2l. In such case, and asshown by FIGURE l5, each hatch cover 77 has a cut-out 77c at the endthereof adjacent the guides 76 so that, during the raising and loweringof the cover 77, the guides 76 do not interfere with the movement of thecover. However, when the cover 77 is in its closed position, its cut-out77e is closed by a hinged panel 77d, as shown.

As will be noted from FIGURES 15 and 21, ladder rungs 76a may beattached between either the fixed guides 76, or between the guidecasings 117 of the centermost guides 76 in the hatchway.

Referring now to the manner in which the container guides 75 arecontinued downwardly below the third deck 33 to the tank top deck 34,FIGURES l, 5, 16 and 17 show a preferred arrangement which providesupwardly swingable hinged hatchway plates 123 which simulate theprovision of hatch covers at the tank top deck 34. That is, the plates123 are of the same size, and function in the same manner as the hatchcovers 77, and include bottom guide sections 124, similar to guides 75,at their undersides. Thus, when the plates 123 are in their upstandingpositions as shown in FIGURES 16 and 17, the bottom guide sections 124are aligned with the guides 75 of the opened hatch covers 77 thereaboveso that containers will be guided fully to the bottom of the hatch 69.The tank top plating may be appropriately recessed to receive the plates123 and guides 124 such that the plates lie ush with the deck whenclosed on the latter or, alternatively, raised deck grating 125 (FIG-URES 1, 16 and 17) may be provided on the deck areas between the plates123.

Alternatively, and as illustrated at the left hand side of FIGURE 21,the bottom guide sections 124 may be respectively attached to individualvertically extending support frames 126, each of which is hingedlyattached, as by a hinge 127 at its upper end, to the overheadlongitudinal girder construction 73 adjacent each hatchway 69 within thebetween decks area extending between the tank top deck 34 and the thirddeck 82, and which are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of theship at the appropriate respective locations of the container guides.The individual support frames 126 are as narrow as possible in thelongitudinal direction and, as indicated by the dotted line showing inFIGURE 2l, are swingable upwardly in the transverse direction to ahorizontal position immediately under the deck 82, in which positionthey are secured by latch means (not shown) when the athwartship wingspace at the level of the tank top deck is to be loaded with mixedcargo, or containerized or palletized cargo, lowered through thehatchway 69. Alternatively, and although not illustrated, the hingeconnection 127 may be such that the guide frames 126 may be swungupwardly in either the fore or aft longitudinal direction of the ship.After loading of the wing space is completed, the frames 126 are swungdownwardly and secured, as by lock means 128 at their bottom ends, tothe tank top deck 34 and, thus, the bottom guide sections 124 arebrought into vertical alignment with the respective guide sections 75thereabove so that containers or pallets may be lowered fully to thebottom of the hatchway 69 and secured in position by the guide sections124 as the containers or pallets are stacked upwardly from the tank topdeck 34.

As also illustrated at the left hand side of FIGURE 2l, similar bottomguide sections 124 an supporting frames 126 may be hingedly mounted insimilar position within any between decks spacing, such as between thesecond deck 81 and the third deck 82 as shown, so that, for example,general mixed cargo may first be stowed within the between decks areabelow deck 82 whereupon the hatch covers 77 at deck 82 may be closed toform f the lowermost between decks area within which containerized orpalletized cargo is to be stowed. After loading the athwartship wingspace at deck 82, the frames 126 within such lowermost container stowagearea are swung downwardly into vertical position and locked to the deck82 using the bottom end locking means 128, so that the otherwise openhatchway within the between decks area is provided with container guides124.

Still another alternative mounting for each bottom guide section 124 isillustrated at the right hand side of FIGURE 2l and is shown in detailby FIGURES 26 through 28. This alternative provides a suitable number ofindividual, roller mounted supporting frameworks 129 to which eachbottom guide section 124 is attached. As shown by FIGURES 26 through 28,at corner locations of the hatchway the framework 129 may have twobottom guide sections 124 attached thereto to respectively providedownward continuations of the container guides 75 and 76 to accommodateboth sizes of container 71 and 72 within the hatchway. (Of course, twosuch adjacent bottom guide sections 124 might also be attached to theappropriate of the swingable type bottom guide frames 126 for the samepurpose.) As most clearly indicated by FIGURES 26 and 27, each guideframe 129 has rollers 130 attached to its upper end for engaging alongitudinally extending roller track 131 which is suspended from theoverhead adjacent the hatchway 69 within the between decks area in whichthe framework 129 is located. Thus, the respective frameworks 129 andtheir associated bottom guide sections 124 may be rolled in longitudinaldirection of the ship to either the forward or after end of the cargoarea when cargo is to be loaded Within the wing space adjacent thehatchway, and may be thereafter rolled back to their respectivepositions for guiding and securing containers which are stowed withinthe hatchway 69.

Each of the individual container guide frames 129 is locked in either ofthese two contemplated positions by pin type locking devices, generallydesignated by reference numeral 132, at its upper and lower ends. At thelower end, the locking device is formed by two down- Wardly projectingpins 133 which are mounted for vertically slidable movement withinrespective sleeves 134 responsive to manual cranking of a jack mechanism135, which has a crank handle 136. The jack 135 is attached to a fixedsupport 137 of the framework 129. Thus, when the handle 136 is rotatedin appropriate direction, the jack 135 causes downwardly projectingmovement of the pins 133 for their engagement with the respective pinreceivers 138 which are in fixed position on the tank top deck 34.Continued operation of the jack mechanism 135,beyond the point where thepins 133 have firmly engaged the pin receivers 138, causes a lifting ofthe frame 129 so that the pair of upwardly projecting pins 139 at itsupper end are brought into engagement with the respective upper pinreceivers 140, which are attached in fixed position to the overhead, tosecurely lock the framework 129 Vin the desired position. In thisconnection, it will be noted that the rollers 130 will then be liftedoff the roller track 131.

'-.Of`v course, regardless of how mounted, the ends of the bottomcontainer guide sections 124 are appropriately fiared, as at 124a(FIGURE 27), to facilitate the guiding of containers therealong. Inaddiiton, and with respect to ,.the positoning of any of the containerguide sections 75`,` 76, 87, and 124 as have been described, theirpositions are such as to provide about 1/2" clearance (i.e., about 1"total clearance between the two confining guides) for sliding ofcontainers and pallets.

nIn addition to the containers, pallets, and mixed cargo as has beendescribed, and referring now to FIGURES 1 3 and 25, the ship 30 isenabled to accommodate rollon, roll-off cargo at its stern end byprovision of one or more expansible ramps, generally designated byreference numeral 145, which may be extended outwardly through the sideportals 58 to 61 at the level of the second deck 32, to a pier or oatingbarge or other dock facility 147 (FIGURE 25). As illustrated, the ship30 includes two such ramps 145, both of which are roller mounted on atrack 146 which is attached to the deck 32.vv The track 146 issubstantially semi-circular in shape at the extreme after end of theship where it lies adjacent to all of the portals 58 to 61, but may haveadditional straight sections (not shown) at the respective sides of theship to continue past additional side portals of the ship, such as theportals 62 to 65, if desired.

Referring to FIGURE 25, it is seen that each ramp 145 includes threesections 145a, 145b, and 145e which are connected in tandem by hinges148 to fold in accordion fashion as shown for retraction into the ship30 from its extended position as indicated by dotted lines in FIGURE 25.The ramp section 145C is mounted for traverse on the track 146 asindicated, so that each damp 145, when retracted, may be rolled from thelocation of one portal to that of another, as indicated in FIGURE 3. Inthe embodiment shown, the two ramps 145 can thereby simultaneouslyservice any combination of two of the portals 58 to 61, the ramps havingwidth and load carrying capacity to support vehicular traffic moving onand off the ship.

Trafic moving on and off the ship 30 via the ramps 145 generally movesin the direction of the arrow head' indications in FIGURE 3, and throughthe roll-on cargo passageways 56 and 57 on deck 32, to any desired placeof cargo stowage within the ship. Movement of vehicular traic from deck32 to any other deck 31, 33 or 34 is by way of traffic ramps 149 ateithe'r side of the ship in the area of hold No. 6 as seen in FIGURES 1through 4 and 6. As most clearly indicated by FIG- URE 1, each trafficramp 149 is hinged at one of its ends 149a so that the same may belowered, from its normal position flush with and forming a part of thedeck 31, 32 or 33 in which it is mounted, to the deck below, asindicated. Of course, vehicular trafiic entering through any of the sideportals 62 to 65 (FIGURES 1 14 and 3) may also use the ramps 149 to movebetween the decks of the ship.

Thus, a cargo carrying vessel has been described, including severalmodifications thereof, which achieves all of the objects of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cargo carrying vessel having an upper deck and at least onelower deck, the improvement comprising hatch means in said upper deckfor moving a horizontal cargo platform therethrough in verticaldirection to and from .said lower deck, the downwardly projecting areaof said hatch means defining a vertical hatchway extending to the levelof said lower deck, and at least one pair of guide means positionable onopposite sides of said hatchway to extend vertically upward fromsubstantially the level of said lower deck within said hatchway forreceiving said cargo platform between the pair and for guiding saidplatform in its said vertical movement, at least one membcr'of said pairof guide means being movable out of its said position within saidhatchway, each of said guide means when in its said position within saidhatchway presenting a first vertical guide surface paralleling that sideof the hatchway on which it is located and further having a laterallyprojecting portion defining a second vertical guide surface disposedsubstantially perpendicular to said first vertical guide surface wherebysaid first and second vertical guide surfaces together constrain saidcargo platform during its said vertical movement against lateralmovement in longitudinal and transverse directions of the hatchway.

2. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein one of said decks hastrack means extending laterally outward substantially from the confinesof said hatchway, and at least one of the members of said pair of guidemeans has roller means for engaging said track means to provide rollingmovement of the guide means memebr.

3. The improvement according to claim 2 wherein said member havingroller means further has deck attachment means at the respective of itsopposite ends for securing the member substantially to said decks aboveand below the same.

4. The improvement according to claim 3 wherein said deck attachmentmeans at one end of said member comprises fixed pin means projectingtherefrom, and said deck attachment means at the other end of saidmember com- -prises pin means mounted for movement between respectiveretracted and projecting positions thereof, said decks above and belowsaid member each having pin receiver means for receiving the respectiveof said fixed and movable pin means of said member, the height of saidmember and its said fixed pin means being less than the clearance heightbetween said decks which permits said rolling movement of the member,and said movable pin means when in its said projecting positionproviding engagement between both said fixed and movable pin means andsaid respective pin receiver means.

5. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein at least one member ofsaid pair of guide means is mounted for pivotal movement about one ofits ends between respective vertical and substantially horizontalpositions thereof.

6. The improvement according to claim 5 wherein said pivotable member ismounted for pivotal movement about its upper end.

7. The improvement according to claim 6 wherein said pivotable member ismounted for pivotal movement about its iower end.

8. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein said lower deck has apair of oppositely disposed plate means respectively mounted forvertical pivotal movement at opposite sides of said hatchway betweenrespective vertical and horizontal positions of each plate means, thedimension of each said plate means in the direction of the plane of itssaid pivotal movement being substantially equal to the height betweensaid lower deck and the underside of said upper deck, the members ofsaid pair of guide means being respectively attached to the undersidesof said plate means and extending in the direction of said dimension ofits associated plate means, and means for securing said pair of platemeans when in their said vertical positions to secure said guide meansin their said upwardly extending positions.

9. The improvement according to claim 8 wherein said securing meanscomprises latch means adjacent respective opposite sides of said upperdeck hatch means corresponding to said opposite sides of the hatchway,and latch receiver means on each said plate means for respectivelyengaging said latch means.

10. The improvement according to claim 9 wherein each said plate meansincludes a projecting portion which projects in the direction of itssaid dimension into, and cmates with a cut-out portion of, the other ofsaid plate means when both said plate means are in their said horizontalpositions, and which projects upwardly into substantially adjacentrelationship with the associated of said latch means when the platemeans is in its said vertical position, said latch receiver means of theplate means being substantially disposed within the area of saidprojecting portion of the latter.

11. The improvement according to claim 8 wherein said lower deck hashatch means in vertical alignment with said hatch means of the deckthereabove to provide extension of said hatchway below said lower deck,and said pair of plate means comprises a pair of load-supporting hatchcovers which, when in their said horizontal positions, at leastpartially close said lower deck hatch means.

12. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein each member of saidpair of guide means includes means delining latch receiver means forengagement by laterally projecting latch means for said cargo platformwhen the latter is received between said pair of guide means.

13. The improvement according to claim 12 wherein said latch receivermeans of each member of said guide means comprises a plurality of ledgemeans in spaced apart relation along the length of the member.

14. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein at least one member ofsaid pair of guide means comprises vertically extending guide railsupport means between said decks and adjacent to but outside the lateralcontines of said hatchway, guide rail means mounted for movement on saidguide rail support means between respective positions projecting intoand out of the lateral confines of said hatchway, and means for inducingmovement of said guide rail means between its said respective positions.

15. The improvement according to claim 14 wherein said guide railsupport means comprises slide means, and said guide rail means comprisesa vertically extending rail mounted on said slide means for slidablemovement into and out from said confines of said hatchway.

16. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein said cargo carryingvessel has a second lower deck below the lirst said lower deck, thefirst said lower deck having hatch means in vertical alignment with saidhatch means of said upper deck whereby the downwardly projected area ofsaid first lower deck hatch means defines an extension of said hatchwayto the level of said second lower deck, said rst lower deck hatch meanshaving a pair of oppositely disposed hatch covers respectively mountedfor pivotal movement at opposite sides of said hatchway betweenrespective vertical and horizontal positions of each hatch cover, themembers of said pair of guide means being respectively attached to theunderside of said hatch covers whereby said pair of guide means are intheir said vertically extending positions when said hatch covers are intheir said vertical positions, means for securing said hatch covers intheir said vertical positions, and movable bottom guide meanspositionable in alignment with the respective of said pair of guidemeans to extend upwardly from substantially the level of said secondlower deck 16 within said hatchway extension to thereby substantiallyprovide lower end continuations of the respective of said pair of guidemeans.

17. The improvement according to claim 16 which fur'- ther comprises apair of second movable bottom guide means between said upper and saidfirst lower deck, said second movable bottom guide means beingpositionable oppositely when said hatch covers are in their saidhorizontal positions to extend vertically `upward from substantially thelevel of said rst lower deck within said hatchway for receiving saidcargo platform means between the pair, each member of said pair ofsecond bottom guide means being movable to a position substantially outof the lateral confines of said hatchway when said hatch covers are intheir said vertical positions.

18. In a ship having a bow end, a stern end, a main deck, a tank topdeck, and at least one intermediate deck between said main and tank topdecks, the improvement comprising vertically aligned hatch means in therespective of said main and intermediate decks providing a cargohatchway extending downwardly substantially to said tank top deck, eachsaid hatch means having substantially removable load-supporting hatchcover means for passage of vehicles thereover, substantially removableguide means extending vertically within said hatchway for receiving andguiding van-type containers 0r the like to and from substantially thelevel of said tank top deck, said removable guide means comprising apair of container guide elements positionable on opposite sides of saidhatchway for extending between at least two of said decks, each of saidcontainer guide elements when in its said position within said hatchwaypresenting a first vertical guide surface paralleling that side of thehatchway on which it is located and further having a laterallyprojecting portion defining a second vertical guide surface disposedsubstantially perpendicular to said lirst vertical guide surface wherebysaid first and second vertical guide surfaces together constrain saidguided containers or the like against lateral movement in longitudinaland transverse directions of the hatchway, and substantially removableramp means extending between the respective of said main, intermediate,and tank top decks for passage of vehicles between all of said decks.

19. The improvement according to claim 18 which further comprises meansdefining an accessway through the hull structure of said ship at thelevel of one of said decks, and extensible vehicle ramp means on saidone deck adjacent said accessway, said extensible ramp means havingportions which are extensible with respect to each other through saidaccessway and outward of said ship to a docking facility, said portionsbeing retractable with respect to each other for retracting the rampmeans into said ship.

20. The improvement according to claim 19 wherein said accesswaycomprises a cargo portal located substantially at said stern end of theship at the level of one intermediate deck thereof.

21. The improvement according to claim 20 which further comprises meansdefining a second accessway at the level of said intermediate deck ofthe ship, and said extensible ramp means is movable between saidaccessways for positioning the ramp means at either accessway.

22. The improvement according to claim 18 wherein said intermediate deckhas at least one pair of oppositely disposed load-supporting hatchcovers respectively mounted thereon for pivotal movement at oppositesides of its said hatch means between respective vertical and horizontalpositions of each hatch cover, the dimension of said hatch means betweenits said opposite sides being substantially twice the distance betweensaid intermediate deck and the deck thereabove, and each said hatchcover when in its said horizontal position extending substantially halfsaid dimension of the hatch means whereby said -pair of hatch coverscloses said hatch means in the direction of its said dimension, eachsaid hatch cover having means for detachably securing the same in itssaid vertical position,

said substantially removable guide meanscomprises at least one pair oftransverse container guide `elements respectively attached Vto theundersides of said hatchcovers and extending inthe direction of lsaidhatch means dimension, and said improvement further comprises atleastone pair of longitudinal container guide elements lrespectively mountedadjacent the alternate opposite ysides of said hatch means and extendingvertically within said hatchway between -said intermediate deck Aand thedeck thereabove. v t Y 1 r 23. The improvement accordingtoclaim2,2,wherein that edge of each said hatch cover which isnadjacentto oneof said longitudinal container guide elements has means defining acutout of the hatch coverfor passing `from its said position 'withinvsaid hatchway to a second position thereof which is outside of thelateral contines of said hatchway.

25. The'improvement according to claim 22 which further comprisesrespective and. substantially removable bottom guide elements extendingvertically within said hatchway between s-aid intermediate deck and saidtank top deck and in alignment with each of said transverse containerguide elements when said hatch covers are in their said verticalpositions to substantially provide respective continuatons of saidtransverse container guide elements to said tank top deck, -andrespective bottom longitudinal container guide elements within saidhatchway between said intermediate deck and said tank top deck and inalignment with each of the first said longitudinal container guideelements to substantially provide respective continuations of the latterto said tank top deck.

26. The improvement according to claim 25 wherein said intermediate deckhas two of said pairs of hatch covers in side by side relation lforclosing said hatch means when the members of both said pairs of lhatchcovers are in their said horizontal positions, each hatch cover of eachpair having an even plurality of said transverse container guideelements attached thereto in spaced apart relation with respect to eachother and in oppositely disposed relation with the respective of saldplurality of transverse container guide elements on the opposite hatchcover in the hatch cover pair whereby van type containers may beslidably received between four of said transverse container guideelements, there being an even plurality of said longitudinal containerguide elements mounted adjacent each of said alternate opposite sides ofsaid hatch means in spaced apart relation to each other and inoppositely disposed relation With the respective of said plurality oflongitudinal container guide elements mounted adjacent the other of saidalternate opposite sides of the hatch means whereby van type containersmay be slid-ably received between -four of said longitudinal containerguide elements, sald hatch means having vertically extending fillerguide means attached thereto in alignment with, and between each of saidtransverse and longitudinal container guide elements and the respectiveof said bottom container guide elements therebelow, said hatch means insaid main deck having a plurality of container lead-in devices mountedthereon for guiding said containers into slidable relation with theappropriate of said transverse and longitudinal container guideelements.

27. The improvement according to claim 26 wherein said main deck hatchmeans has upwardly projecting coaming providing a peripherally extendingand outwardly facing edge spaced above said main deck and verticallyextending filler guide means attached thereto in alignment with each ofsaid vtransverse and longitu- .dinal container kguide elementstherebelow, and each said lead-in device has a lead-in surface extendingin upwardly and outwardly direction from said hatchway, each said devicebeing lhingedlymounted onsaid edge of the coaming for pivotal movementaway from said hatchway to a position within saidspacing of the coamingedge above said main deck.

28. A cargo platform having latch means for supporting the platform inhorizontal position between at least one pair of upstandingandhorizontally spaced apart supports, said latch means comprising aplurality of t individual latches correspondingto the number of and for`respective association with said supports,` each said latch -beingmounted adjacent an edge of saidpl-atform and 'for vertical pivotalmovement between laterally projecting land retracted positions withrespect. to the platform edge, each said latch presenting a downwardlyfacing surface forengaging its associated support when the latch is inits said projecting position, and latch actuating mechanismsrespectively associated with each said latch, each said mechanismcomprising spring Imeans normally biasing its said associated latchto-its said projecting position,

stop means for holding said latch in its said projecting position, hingemeans mounted for pivotal movement on said platform and having an endfor engagingvand thereby restraining said latch Iagainst bias responsivemovement when in its said retracted` position, spring means biasing saidhinge means to its said latch engaging position, and latch actuatormeans mounted on said platform and comprising means for pivoting saidhinge means against its said bias to release its said engagement withsaid latch when the latter is in its said retracted position.

29. A load-supporting type hatch cover having hinge means on one of itsedges for mounting the same on a cargo hatch of a ship for pivotalmovement between a horizontal position and an upwardly extendingvertical position with respect to the hatch, and at least one containerguide element attached to its underside, each said guide elementextending substantially across said hatch cover in direction outwardlyfrom its said one edge whereby the guide element is vertically disposedwhen the hatch cover is so mounted and in its vertical position.

30. A pair of comating load-supporting type hatch covers, each saidhatch cover having hinge means on one of its edges whereby the pair ofhatch covers is adapted for mounting on opposite sides of a cargo hatchof a ship for pivotal movement between comating horizontal positions andrespective upwardly extending vertical positions with respect to thehatch, the dimension of each of said hatch cover in the directionoutward from its said one edge being substantially equal to the otherand such that said pair of hatch covers spans across and closes thespacing between said sides of said hatch when the hatch covers are intheir said comating horizontal positions, a pair of laterally spacedapart container guide elements attached to the underside of each saidhatch cover, each said guide element extending substantially across itssaid associated hatch cover in direction outwardly from said one edge ofthe latter whereby said guide elements are vertically disposed whentheir said associated hatch cover is so mounted and in its said verticalposition, said pair of spaced apart guide elements on each said hatchcover being oppositely disposed with respect to the pair of guideelements on the other of said hatch covers when the latter are somounted, each said hatch cover having a projecting portion and meansdefining a cut-out portion on the edge thereof which is opposite itssaid one edge whereby said projecting portion of either hatch coverprojects into and comates with said cut-out portion of the other hatchcover when said hatch covers are so mounted and in their said horizontalpositions, and each said hatch cover having connection means forsecuring the same in its said vertical position,

`assenza 19 said connection means of each said hatch cover beingdisposed substantially within the area of its said projecting portion.

31. A removable container guide section for mounting within a betweendecks spacing of a cargo ship for use at a hatchway in guiding van-typecontainers or the like when moved vertically within such hatchway, saidcontainer guide section comprising frame means having heightsubstantially equal to said between decks spacing, a container guideelement attached on one side of said frame means and extendingsubstantially said height thereof, and connection means on therespective opposite ends of said frame means for connecting said framemeans in vertical position to the respective deck structures whichdefine said between decks spacing.

32. A removable container guide section according to claim 31 whereinsaid connection means on at least one of said frame means ends comprisespin means mounted for movement ybetween respective retracted andprojecting positions thereof.

33. A removable container guide section according to claim 31 whereinsaid connection means on one of said frame means ends comprises hingeconnection means.

34. A container guide section for mounting within a between decksspacing of a cargo ship adjacent a hatchway and for guiding van-typecontainers or the like when moved vertically within such hatchway, saidcontainer guide section comprising guide rail support means havingheight substantially equal to said between decks spacing, guide railmeans mounted for lateral movement on said guide rail support meansbetween respective retracted and laterally projecting positions withrespect to the latter, and means between said support means and saidguide rail means for inducing said movement of the latter.

35. A container guide section according to claim 34 wherein said supportmeans has substantially U-shaped cross-sectional configuration providingrecessed lateral slide means, said guide rail means being mounted forslidable movement on said slide means, and said means for inducing saidmovement of said guide rail means comprises hydraulic ram means.

36. The improvement according to claim 16 wherein said movable bottomguide means comprises individual guide means members at least one ofwhich is hingedly attached substantially to the underside of said firstlower deck adjacent said hatchway extension for upward pivotal movement.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,181,279 11/1939 McLauthlin214-15 2,247,144 6/1941 Baldwin 214-14 2,923,265 2/ 1960 Pontoni et al114-73 2,979,007 4/ 1961 Kummerman 114-72 3,111,104 11/1963 Seymour etal 114-72 3,138,131 6/1964 Szychlinski 114-72 FERGUS S. MIDDLETON,Primary Examiner.

MILTON BUCHLER, Examiner.

T. M. BLIX, Assistant Examiner.

